Lifeblood
by Misfit Writer
Summary: Jericho: He'd always been really good at hiding injuries. Especially the really bad ones. Like gunshot wounds. But now, they're trapped in the cellar without any way to help him. The storm doesn't show signs of stopping, and he's running out of time..
1. Chapter 1

So, not sure if this is the first Jericho fanfic on the site, but I know it's mine. It's an awesome show, really addicting. Don't know what it is about it, but it's just really good. I highly reccommend it.

Anyways, let me know what you think of this! I will be continuing it.

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Chapter 1: Discovered 

Emily looked around the cellar for a second, and took off as soon as she saw Bonnie and the Deputies. Jake limped down the stairs, the burn in his leg growing from running. Pain pulsed through him to the beat of his heart. It was a miracle they made it before the rain; there was no way to deny that.

But he wasn't quite sure just how lucky he himself was. Warm, sticky liquid slid down his left arm, even as he gripped his soulder in an attempt to hide the bullet wound he'd received while running for the gas tank. Emily didn't see it thru her shocked daze, for which he was incredibly grateful. He didn't want her to worry about him…not when they had to worry about the deputies.

"Bonnie, is there any kind of first aid kit in down here?" Emily questioned, signing to the deaf teenager urgently. Jake looked over the two officers quickly, not seeing any serious injuries, but seeing plenty of bumps and bruises.

Bonnie nodded, and made her way across the room to where Jake was. He took a step back into the shadow of the corner, so that she wouldn't be able to see the blood on his arm. She gave him a confused look, but grabbed a kit from some shelves behind him. Without looking at him again, the teen hurried back to Emily and the men, Steve and Frank. She handed the box over quickly. Emily raised her hand to her chin and drew it away, signing "thank you" to her, before turning all of her attention to the men. Not once did she turn her gaze to Jake, avoiding his eyes even as she felt his on her.

Bonnie took the idle time to turn to Jake and look him over. She noticed the hunch of his shoulders, and the way he was leaning slightly to the left. He met her gaze uneasily, until she searched his face for the telltale signs of pain.

Jake tried to blank his features to Bonnie, but he knew it was useless. She had always been best at reading faces…after all, she had to read lips in order to know what most people were saying. Outside of her family and Emily, Jake was the only other one able to speak to her in sign language. It also didn't help that before he'd left Jericho , she had been like a little sister to him, so she could read him better than she could read anyone else. Especially when he was trying to hide his being hurt from her.

She began to sign to him, knowing without a doubt that something was wrong, but not wanting to alert Emily to it until she knew for sure what was going on. "Are you okay?" she questioned silently, mouthing the words along with her signs. Jake tried to smile.

The look in her eyes when his smile turned into a faint grimace of pain told him that he had given himself away. She knew he was hurt. He raised his right hand and responded in the affirmative, knowing she'd get angry with him for pretending that he was fine. Her eyes narrowed, and he gave a weak laugh.

Emily heard the quiet sound, and caught the slight hitch in his voice, and couldn't stop the rush of fear that shot through her. She'd heard that kind of laugh too many times for her not to know exactly what it meant. Every time he was hurt—and he was hurt often—he would attempt to hide it from her…to _protect _her. She turned from the treated deputies to face her first love. "Jake?"

His eyes snapped over to her, surprised. She caught the flash of pain that changing his attention and position caused, and her concern grew. "Are they okay?" he questioned softly. There was a determined edge to his voice; again, something she was intimately familiar with from the many times she'd heard it before. He always did

whatever he could to hide his pain from other people, even when he knew he'd been discovered.

Emily sighed in frustration. "They're fine, Jake. Just a few bumps and bruises. They're both resting. What's wrong?"

His surprise turned to confusion quickly. "What?"

Emily glanced over at Bonnie, who crossed her arms over her chest and nodded, concern shining in her eyes. Especially because Bonnie was concerned, there was no question in her mind that he was hurt. "You're hurt. What happened?"

Jake raised an eyebrow at her, and quirked a half-smile. "I'm fine, Emily. Both of you," he insisted, tossing a pointed look at Bonnie as well. "So stop worrying about me. There are a lot more important people to worry about."

"Jake, don't do that," Emily murmured softly, frustration bringing tears to her eyes.

"Do what?" he questioned just as quietly, taking a step toward her. The second both pairs of eyes were averted to his arm, he cursed himself.

"Oh, God, Jake you idiot! When were you planning on telling us that you'd been shot! When you passed out from bloodloss!" she yelled, suddenly angry. Bonnie nodded her agreement.

Jake rolled his eyes, and realized a few seconds too late that it had been a _really_ bad idea. Everything tilted, and his knees felt like jello.

"Jake!" Emily and Bonnie both cried, reaching for him when he swayed on his feet. Emily quickly ushered him to the stairs, forcing him to sit down. "We have to stop the bleeding before you pass out." She turned to Bonnie, signing frantically. "Can you grab the towel from the first aide kit and bring it to me?"

While Bonnie did as she was asked, Emily turned back to Jake. "I'm sorry," he murmured softly. Emily looked up at him for a second, before tugging up the hem of his shirt.

"We need to get this off. I don't know how to do this without you moving your arm." He nodded, and raised his arms up slowly. She felt unwanted tears in her eyes at his harsh breathing and gasps of pain. "I thought you were gone," she whispered, trying to take his mind away from the pain as she peeled the shirt over his head slowly.

"I, uh...I came to protect you," he breathed. Emily heard the faint airiness to his voice, and eased him back against the stair behind him. At that moment, Bonnie pressed the towel into Emily's hand. Their eyes met for a moment, her silently requesting his permission, dreading the pain she knew she was going to cause him by wiping away the blood.

He nodded slightly, and closed his eyes in anticipation. Emily took a deep breath, and leaned in. Her lips pressed against his at the same instant that the cloth pressed against his wound. Whether he tensed in shock or pain, she had no idea...but she couldn't deny the familiar comfort she found herself in the intimate contact.


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you guys for your reviews, I greatly, _greatly _appreciate them. Especially since this is the only one of two Jericho stories on here (yay! I'm not alone anymore!). Anyways, you guys rock, and thank you so much to my beta, LoneTread. I need help fixing this now more than ever, since my spell check stopped working.

It was kinda funny...I was half-expecting Jake to have a bullet wound in his shoulder in last week's episode...goes to show how overactive my imagination is.

**Disclaimer: **Not mine, yeah right, I wish...just the ideas are mine.

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**Chapter 2: **Complicated

Only when she was finished cleaning Jake's shoulder did she pull away from him. Her heart pounded as she looked him over carefully. His face was pale, and his eyes were still closed. She took the opportunity to tape a temporary bandage over the wound, deciding it was best if she didn't meet his eyes.

Jake finally looked at her only to find that she was avoiding his gaze, and he released the breath he'd been holding in anticipation. He was startled, confused by her actions, but didn't know how to voice it. After everything they'd been through – after everything that had changed, he had never expected her to kiss him again. Especially not when she was engaged.

Emily took a shaky breath. "Uh, well…I'm going to go…check on the deputies," she stammered, turning away from him quickly to hurry over to the still men. Jake watched after her silently, still confused as hell.

Bonnie looked between the two for a moment, stunned. She'd seen Emily with her fiancé for three years – they were like the perfect couple. They had always seemed happy, and Emily had never mentioned anything being wrong. But Jake comes home for two days, and everything changes.

Jake met her gaze, and she smiled wryly and shook her head. He smiled back, and let out a slow sigh in an attempt to ease the pain. Bonnie approached him cautiously, an uneasy look on her face. Jake signed to her that he was okay, but the motion sent shots of pain through his arm.

Emily looked up at his poorly-suppressed gasp of pain. "Jake?"

"I'm fine," he muttered through clenched teeth. Bonnie placed her hand on his forehead gently, not liking the heat radiating from his skin.

She turned to Emily quickly. "He's warm," she murmured softly, not even bothering with sign language.

Jake took her hand gently. When she turned to look at him, he spoke clearly, with a soft smile in his eyes. "It's just because I'm tired...treating it took some energy," he reassured her. "It's okay." He looked over at Jim. "Can you try the radio, see if you can get through to my brother or dad? It should be over on the shelf."

The deputy nodded silently and did as he was asked. After a few failed attempts, the staticky voice of Eric came through. Emily breathed a silent sigh of relief: there may be help coming now, after all. "Eric? Can you hear me? This is Jimmy!"

"Jimmy…where…you…what…going on?" His sentence was fragmented by the crackling of the sound waves, but they all got the gist of what he had been asking.

"I'm at the Richmond Ranch, with Bill, Emily, Bonnie and Jake. Is it still storming?"

"Yeah," Eric responded with a sigh. "And...doesn't...signs...stopping...soon."

Jake cursed under his breath, the words inaudible to everyone but Emily. She took his hand and squeezed it gently. "We have to find some way to get someone over here. He needs to get to the medical center as soon as possible," she urged, wishing they had more bandages so that she could rewrap his wound.

Jimmy nodded. "Eric? Eric, is there any way that you can get someone over here? We need to get to the medical center as soon as possible."

The static was beginning to clear up enough for them to hear the entire sentence, and Eric's question was finally fully clear. "Who's hurt? What happened?"

Jim looked between Emily and Jake, unsure who to hand the radio to. Emily reached out for it quickly, not wanting to panic Eric with the faint airiness to his brother's voice. "Eric, we had a run-in with some escaped prisoners here. There was a shootout. Both of the prisoners are dead…but Eric, Jake was hit in the shoulder," she murmured, her voice as soothing as possible. She knew how badly he would react to hearing that his kid brother had gotten himself shot, again – this time with no available help.

She could almost hear the stream of curses that would probably be the reason their parents would find out. "How bad, Em?"

Jake reached for the radio with his good hand, but Emily jerked it out of his reach. "He's still able to try to act like he's not hurt, but it's pretty bad, Eric. He's losing a lot of blood fast, and there's nothing down here to treat him with. He's running out of time."

"Em, I'm _fine_! There's no point in worrying him when there's nothing they can do anyway! Not until the rain stops!"

"Jake, we have to get you to the hospital before you bleed to death!" she snapped, frustration boiling over. "I'm not going to just sit by and let you die!"

Jake sighed heavily, his head dropping a few inches, until the action pulled against his shoulder and sent shards of pain through his arm. "I'll survive until the rain stops," he murmured, attempting to comfort her enough to keep his family from panicking. "Tell them to just come over as soon as it's clear. I don't want anyone to die because of me."

His last statement was what finally got through to her; he was right. Anyone who got caught in the rain was in serious risk of radiation poisoning. Most likely, at least half of Jake's family would be subjecting themselves to that for their youngest. He wouldn't get through losing them even if he did get through the physical injury. She sighed, and nodded to Jake reluctantly. "Eric?" she murmured into the radio, waiting for his response before continuing. "You guys just sit tight and wait until the rain stops. After it does, get over to the clinic as soon as possible with April. We'll get him there as fast as possible."

"Emily, this is April," a gentle but firm voice responded once she was finished. "Keep him awake at all costs, okay? And put pressure on the wound. Is he bleeding from the back of his shoulder?"

Emily eased Jake forward slightly, noting the lack of an exit wound. "No," she replied.

"Okay, well, all we can really do is pray that the rain stops soon – the bullet's lodged somewhere in his shoulder. So just…make sure he moves it as little as possible, and keep him awake, okay? If anything changes, let me know immediately."

"Will do," Emily responded, fighting back tears of frustration. "Thanks, April." As she released the button, a single tear slid down her cheek.

Jake looked up at her as she tossed the radio onto a pile of cattle blankets. "I'll be okay, Em. I promise," he assured, wiping away the tear tenderly with his thumb. "I can stay awake until the rain stops."

Jimmy stepped up next to Emily, about to voice a thought, when a loud thud resonated through the cellar. Jake tensed, startled, and stumbled to his feet. Bonnie and Emily supported him as the three of them backed away from the stairwell, while Jim and Bill drew their guns and silently dared the stranger to come downstairs.

"What is it?" Bonnie questioned, worried by the sudden movements of the others.

"Someone's upstairs," Jake explained, signing as well as he could with one hand. Emily pulled him back even farther when the basement door opened. A figure pounded down the stairs.

"Stanley!" Bonnie cried happily. The elder Richmond moved to hug his sister, not noticing Jake's injury—stark against the pale tone of his bare skin—through his relief.

"Oh, thank—"

"Stanley, no!" Jake snapped quickly. Emily pulled Bonnie back hastily. "The rain may be radioactive."

"What? Jake, what – oh, my God, what the hell happened?" he cried, finally noticing his best friend's state. "I'm guessing it has something to do with the patrol car and two dead deputies outside?"

Jake turned back to look at Emily and nearly lost his balance. Dizziness took over for a minute, and Emily had to grip his good arm to keep him upright.

"Okay, let's get you back on the stairs. Easy…" she coached, guiding him to sit on the step. She turned to Stanley. "Bonnie and I were held up by two prisoners that killed the sheriff and tied up Jim and Bill in the trunk. One of them had a gun to Bonnie and I had a gun on him. I didn't know the other one was about to shoot me, until Jake appeared and killed him. He tried to shoot Jake, and I shot and killed him. Jake was hit while he was trying to run," she explained quickly, while placing her hand gently on Jake's forehead to make sure he didn't develop any more of a fever. "We have to radio April…. You may have radiation poisoning."

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Again, I can't thank my beta, LoneTread, enough for all the help!!


	3. Chapter 3

I'm so excited that there are more than 11 stories for Jericho now!!! (lol but it still feels good to say that I was the first!!!) This first half of the season has been just amazing. But I can't wait till February for it to come back!!! And I've realized that this story is definitely Jake/Emily…wasn't really sure before. So, sorry if you were wanting Jake and Heather (I still can't decide which couple I want more in the show…).

Sorry for keeping you guys waiting…writer's block and life were keeping me from getting anything done…school just ran away with me. I hope this chapter is apology enough. I didn't have it Beta'ed, so sorry if it stinks!

PS: I'm using a song in this chapter, "Stay With Me" from Danity Kane. Awesome song. Tell me what you think, about how it flows with the story. (You're gonna have to listen to it during or read the lyrics beforehand to get the effect)

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**Chapter 3: Stay With Me**

April walked Emily through the steps of testing Stanley for radiation poisoning, instructing her to give him some iodine. After that, all that they could do was wait. Stanley had curled himself up in a corner, wrapped in a blanket and away from the others. He eyed Jake worriedly, familiar with the agony poorly concealed in his best friend's eyes. He did, after all, know one Jake Green better than most. Reading his pain was something he was an expert at, just like Bonnie.

"Jake, how are you feeling?" Emily murmured softly, kneeling before his pale, hunched figure. He slowly looked up at her, and she felt concern flood her. He was paler than she'd ever seen him, and his eyes were unfocused and full of pain. "Jake?"

"I'm…I'm okay, Em. Keep an eye on Stanley…don't…don't worry about me," he insisted faintly. Emily placed her hand against his neck gently, wishing they had some kind of cool washcloth to fight some of his fever. "I'm fine."

"Jake, stop saying that. You're _not fine_. You've got a fever, the bleeding won't stop, and it's still pouring! We have to figure out a way to get you to the clinic…you can't stay down here!" Trying to push her tears away, Emily stood and began to pace. Bonnie caught her quickly, hugging her.

"It's going to be okay," the deaf girl murmured softly.

Jake watched them sadly, wishing more than anything that he could take Emily's pain away. He'd made her cry too many times to count…and it just seemed like the harder he tried to protect her, the more he hurt her. He tried to fight the heavy, numb feeling threatening to overcome his body, but his eyelids still began to droop.

Stanley watched his best friend grow paler and paler, until it seemed like he was translucent. Jake's hazel eyes became smaller and smaller, until they were completely hidden behind his eyelids and eyelashes. "Jake?" he called tentatively, knowing he had to keep him awake. "Jake!"

Emily spun, and rushed back to Jake immediately. "Jake, Jake c'mon, open your eyes. Please, babe. Don't fall asleep on me; April said you need to stay awake, ok? You promised me you'd be able to stay awake." An agonizing moment passed without response. "Jake!" she pleaded with tears sliding down her cheeks. She cupped his face, stroking his jaw to encourage him to stay conscious.

A gentle flutter was the only sign he gave at first; slowly, Jake looked up into Emily's eyes. Fresh tears spilled over her lashes, and she rested her forehead against his. "Sorry," he breathed.

Emily had to laugh a bit. "Just don't scare me like that again, okay?"

Jake nodded, and she sat back against the wall a step below him. She had to take a moment to regain her composure. She'd never realized before how much she still needed Jake Green in her life. Losing him would bring her entire world down around her.

When she looked up at him again, he was watching her through half-lidded eyes. A pained half-smile came to her lips and her eyes filled with a mix of fear for him and relief that he was still alive. No matter how much she told herself that it was his fault that her brother was dead, she couldn't actually believe it…she couldn't bring herself to hate him. In fact, looking over his pale, shaking form, and knowing he had gotten hurt saving her, she realized that she might actually be falling in love with Jake once more.

With that thought, she reached up and took his hand, intertwining their fingers. His eyes met hers, surprise nearly overcoming the pain in their watery depths. She smiled at him again through her tears, and gently leaned forward to kiss the back of his hand, willing his pain to vanish.

The group sat in silence for a moment, only Jake's labored breathing audible in the cold cellar. Emily glanced at the engagement ring around her finger, and felt guilt overwhelm her. She didn't even know if Roger was alive…but with everything that had happened in the past day alone, she didn't know if she could ever be with him again. The world had changed around her…hell, _she'd _changed more in the span of a few seconds than she'd changed in her entire life.

Her eyes met Jake's hesitantly, and realized he'd been watching her even after she looked away, waiting for an explanation to her display of affection. "Em—"

Emily reached up and placed a finger against his pale lips to silence him. "Jake, I know I have a lot of explaining to do…especially since you have no idea what exactly was behind that little…kiss." She hesitated, taking a shaky breath. "I don't know if I love Roger anymore. I mean…I _love_ him, I'm just not…_in love_ with him. So…I need you to stick around a little bit longer, so that you can help me figure out what's going on in this scary little mind of mine. I need you in my life…you once told me you would always be here. Now that you've finally come back, please just…stay with me."

Jake tugged on her hand weakly, so she quickly complied. His free hand guided her face to his, and he pressed his lips to hers. Emily was so startled from the action that she didn't react at first, but quickly supported him as he began to sag against her. After a moment, she pulled back, and leaned her forehead against his.

Bill cleared his throat uneasily. "Um…I don't mean to interrupt…this, but the rain has stopped."

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I think I might be drawing this to a close within the next few chapters. I'm not sure yet, I've got more ideas for different stories that I want to work on. Let me know what you think of this chapter!!!


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